West Virginia University student Emily Spickler unexpectedly died of natural causes while studying abroad in Australia.
Spickler, 19, was just a few weeks in to her yearlong study abroad term at University of Southern Queensland in Toowomba, Australia when she was discovered dead in her dormitory room Monday about 6:30 p.m.
Post mortem results show that Spickler died of natural causes, reports the Courier Mail.
Spickler’s family last heard from her Sunday and is undoubtedly shocked by her death. Syracuse.com quotes her father, Jeff Spickler, 60, saying, “We don’t know what happened.
“Emily had talked to her mother on Sunday and said she was sick, throwing up, that sort of thing. She thought maybe she had food poisoning. My wife told her to go to the campus medical facility but it was closed on the weekend.
“So then her mother said to go to the ER. Em said she would see how she felt, but called back later to say she was feeling better.”
An accomplished student at West Virginia University’s Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism, Spickler is already missed by peers and faculty. The Charleston Daily Mail quotes Dean Maryanne Reed saying, “She really wanted to be a fashion journalist. That was her dream and she had a very real shot at making it happen for herself. It’s tragic that somebody so bright and with such a bright future ahead of her was lost.”
Spickler served as Her Campus West Virginia’s News Editor. “She was an amazing person, and an even better journalist. The Her Campus WVU (West Virginia University) team is truly heartbroken over her loss,” wrote West Virginia Campus Correspondent Devin Sears in an email to Her Campus Editor-in-Chief Stephanie Kaplan.
Outside of Her Campus, Spickler was engaged in a number of activities, including the Daily Anthenaeum, West Virginia University’s student newspaper; an internship at LA Magazine in Los Angeles this past summer; modeling and ballet dancing.
Jeff Spickler, his wife Jill and their son Levi will be arriving in Australia to retrieve Emily’s body before taking her home to Sheperdstown, Va. for a funeral, said Jeff Spickler.
Toowomba, where Spickler was studying abroad, is located just west of Brisbane.
